Heater



April 9 HEATER Filed April 1, 1937 INVENTOR' PatentedApr. 9, 19420 n o Y a cornorationxtlndiana VApplicationApril 1, 1937, fserialino 134;,268

f y. v 5 Claims.

My invention relates-to automobile-bodyfheaters of the circulating `v'uuid-type and tofoth'er devices in which the 'disehargevof air f through `an opening iscontrolled both `in .volume and .din

rection by, one or more -shuttersmountedin a frame .which vis rotatable about`the axis Yofzthe opening.

amount of frictionbetween the shutter-carrying frame and the shell'or .ccnduiton Whichvit vis mounted. --In a common 'form of automobile heater, in which air is discharged thrcughfar circular opening inthe front face 0i4 the shell, Vsuch vmeans usually took lthe form of a lspring or spring-mounted shoe supportedy from the shuttercarrying frame andbearing against'the rear face of'the shell-Wallvadjacent the edge of ythe opening. In thesedevicesdriction'between the-shut- `ter-carrying frame and-shell-aswell vas between the shell andv theespring -Or`spring-pressed shoe jhas been depended upon J*to rhold theshutterf carrying frame in 1 any desired position of Aadjustment. Because of inevitable inaccuraciesgin manufacture andv because "of the presence fof painter otherl shelleiinish -be-v tween' 'the shell and' .the shutter-,carrying iframe, friction'between those elements is diiiicult to control. y v

` `Itis the object of my'invention'toprovide for a shutter-carrying frame'in a device of the'type described a friction -brake which will `b evmore nearly constant-in its action than prior brakes of which `I arnavvare vand Whichwill accommo-v n Without the production of marked variationsin' braking ef*- tort..` A further object ofniy invention is to produce av brake Whichwilljhave advantages over prior brakes in Avrespect to cost of manufacture and simplicity. f"

In carrying outmy invention,Y I attach rather loosely to the shutter-carrying ,fr-ame a member' of spring steel or of any othersuitable material so iorrned as tobear resiliently against both the inner and outer faces of the shell.- at the Jedge of the air-dischargezopening. Desirably, ythere are tWcof suchv date inaccuracies in' manufacture braking., means located lat diametrically. opposite points on rthe rshutter-,carrying frame. The-.points of. contact between :,each of the brake members .and the shell `and, the point of attachmentof thebrakefmember to the I shutter-carrying framezare so arranged .that any eifort forcing thegshutter-,carrying frame against the outeriace of `the'shellis relatively 'fsmall'in comparison `with :the `force with .whichithe yparts 'of the brake bear against the opposite faces of theshell- WalL 'Thus almost all the braking effort is exerted between -the brakemembers and the shell and thecharacter of the t between the shutter-carrying frame and the shell is With- H lIn priorv devices ofy this kind, means have been employed for providing a certain l the -possibility of f (01. sis- 2) out .any A'substantial eiect Aonthe resistance to ytheir relative 7rotation.

*The accompanying :drawing illustrates niyinvention: 1" isa lrear elevation of 1 the rfront `half Aof the shell of 'Aan automobile-'body vheater f with my `invention l incorporated therein; Figs. 2 and Af3 are lsectionson tthe -lines 2"2 and ."3-'3 of l'.Fig.l l respectively; ianjd LFig.'y 4 .is an isometric :View of. the frontts'hell-half with? portions brokenv away.

"In the drawing, vtheff-ront"hz'rlf I01oith-efshell orhousingA suitablef forv .enc-losingf'an automobilebody heater-is illustrated. Myinvention is mot concerned'with other yportions 'of the shell Lor heater. y'Ihe shell shown is formed .a-titsfront face with da' short, `forwardly projecting .,circul-ar Yextension `I I i providing va `seat i for fa :f rearwardly directed annularflange I2 on aL shutter-carrying nange I2 lis :not u close. The shutter-carrying fname '1I3 ihasr a central air .f discharge :.opening,

`conveniently yof ialgenerally rectangularzshape, I

andthe-material of the: frame aboutisuchaopen` ingis bentinwardly tolformalange Int. Ate-opposite sides. of ,the opening inthesframe I 3=J there i4 :.f'reinforcingv imemare secured to tthe 1flange bers f I 5 fto .which adjustable-'shutters ILS @are `riveted. I

- :'In embodyingmy:invention'nsuclna construction fas has :just Lbeen :described the y. edge yof the circular Yprojection Il I isy turnedinwardly to: ferm j a'- plane annular: flange l I8.. Brakemembers, foon- `'veniently carried by thefreinforcements t5, fric- :tionallyv-engage opposite sides of the lflange i553, vthus serving ,to holditheishutterfcarrying :frame in any :desired aboutitszaxis.

position :of i annular :adjustment AAs previouslyindicatede .preferito provide two brakes `located.at.opposite.sides .'ofthe shutter--.. carrying frame. :Each :of i these ibrakes .takes yform Yoi' a'strip .zofpspring steel v'or othersuitf able material adapted ptofextendzchordally of the f Vflange l1I Sfwithits vfends resting onathei-nnerpsurvfacerof such ange. Nearfits center, the brake 20 .is provided with; an .outwardly .extending nro- :jection' 2I 'which ris oitset;outfoffthefplaneof the strip to engage :the outeracey of the'fflange I3.

`The methodzfof'attaching eachzbrakexstrip .123 to .the shutterarryiug *iframe imay `take ,various forms; but I prefen the arrangement .illustrated in the drawing. As there indicated, the inner edge of each reinforcement lI5 -`,'issnotched, and

the vside Wallsofthe notch z;are.undercut tofleave two'rtongueszf22. JThebrakestrip `ZIJy lis provided centrally kwith .ian inwardly -`extending ear 322 which; is receivedzimtheiundercuti portions of'; the notch'in Lthefrenfcrcement 5&5., beneathfthe tongues 22. In addition, the stripfZ is provided near each end with a nger 23 engaging the inner'face of the reinforcement I5.

Prior to the assembly of the device illustrated, the tongues 22 are bent approximately perpendicularly to the reinforcement I5 to permit the ear 22' to enter the notch in the reinforcement I5 as the brake strip'Z is dropped over the reinforcement with the fingers 23 embracing the ends thereof. The tongues 22 are thereafter bent back over the ear 22', as illustrated, to hold the brake strip in place.

If desired, those portions of the brake stripr which engage the flange I8 may be provided with embossments 25 to localize the application of frictional effort and to prevent any sharp edge of i the relatively hard brake-strip from scoring the flange I8.

With the arrangement of brake-strips described, the shutter-carrying frame I3 is held inwardly against the front of the shell I0 by a relatively small force. To prevent the shutter-carrying frame from being moved forwardly on the shell against this relatively small force, I may provide the flange II with ears 26 which extend inwardly of the shell and -have their ends bent outwardly to overlie the flange I8. Normally, there is no engagement between the ears 26 and the flange i8, the shutter-carrying frame being held lightly against the outer face of the shell by its connection with the brake-strip 20.

As will be obvious, each of the strips 2i! is so formed that when in place in the assembly it will be strained to cause its ends and the projection 2l to bear resiliently against the flange I3. Each of the strips 2E) may be regarded (Fig. 3) as a lever extending radially of the shell, `fulcrumed about the axis b approximately coincident with the outer edge'of the strip, engaging the outer surface of the fiange I8 at the point a Aon one side of such axis, and engaging the reinforcement I5 at point c on the opposite side of such axis. With this arrangement, the outward reaction of the ange I8 applied at the point a in Fig. 3 tends to rock the strip about the axis b in such a direction that the ear 22 will exert on the reinforcement I5 at point c aninwardly directed force tending to hold the frame I3 against the front face of the shell. However, the parts are so arranged that the lever-arm of the force a about the axis b, which lever-arm is the distance d in Fig. 3, is materially less than the lever-arm c of the force applied to the reinforcement i5 at point c. As a result, the force acting at point c and holding the frame I3 against the face of the shell is relatively small in comparison to the pressures exerted on opposite faces of the flange I at the points a and b.

It is to be noted that the connection between the frame I3 and each of the brake strips is loose in the sense that it does not define the angular position of the plane of the brake strip relative to the frame I3. This type of connection has advantages over a rigid connection not only because of its simplicity and cheapness but also because it accommodates for inaccuracies of manufacture and decreases the extent of variations in braking effort which result from such inaccuracies.

I claim as my invention:

'1. In a device of the type described, a shuttercarrying frame having a central air-passing opening, one or more air-deflecting members mounted on said frame in association with said opening, a supporting wall having a circularA air-passing jacent the circumference opening alined with that of said frame, and a pair of diametrically opposite brake members carried by said frame, each of said members being of spring material and formed with portions bearing resiliently on opposite sides of said wall adof the opening therein.

2. In a device of the type described, a shutter- `carrying frame having a central air-passing opening, one or more air-deecting members mounted on said frame in association with said opening, a supporting wall having a circular airpassing opening alined with that of said frame, and a pair of diametrically opposite brake members carried by said frame, each of said members being a spring-metal strip extending chordally of the opening in the wall and bearing at its ends against the inner surface of said wall, said strip having near its center an outwardly extending projection bearing against the outer surface of said wall and an inwardly extending projection, said frame being provided with a slot in which said inwardly extending projection is received.

3. In a device of the type described, a shuttercarrying frame having a central air-passing opening, one or more air-deflecting members mounted on said frame in association with said opening, a supporting wall having a circular airpassing opening alined with that of said frame, and a pair of diametrically opposite brake members carried by said frame, each of said members being a spring-metal strip extending chordally of the opening in the wall and bearing at its ends against the inner surface of said wall, said strip having near its center an outwardly extending projection bearing against the outer surface of said wall and being connected to said frame near its inner edge, the distance between the outer edge of said strip and its point of connection to said frame being materially greater than the distance between the outer edge of the strip and the point of engagement of said projection with said wall.

4. In a device of the type described, a shuttercarrying frame having a central air-passing opening, one or more air-deflecting members mounted on said frame in association with said opening, a supporting wall having a circular airpassing opening alined with that of said frame, and a pair of diametrically opposite brake members carried by said frame, each of said members being a spring-metal strip extending chordally of the opening in the wall and bearing at its ends against the inner surface of said wall, said strip being connected to said frame near its inner edge and having near its center an outwardly extending projection bearing against the outer surface of said wall.

5. In a device of the type described, a shutter carrying frame having a central air-passing opening, one or more air-deflecting members mounted on said frame in association with said opening, a supporting wall having a circular airpassing opening alined with that of said frame, and brake means carried by said frame and bearing resiliently against opposite faces of said Wall adjacent the circumference of the opening therein, the bearing of said brake means upon opposite faces of said wall being confined to points spaced about the circumference of said opening.

EARL C. BOOTH. 

